The Nintendo GameCube (Japanese: ニンテンドーゲームキューブNintendo GameCube), officially abbreviated GCN (Japanese: NGC), is Nintendo's sixth-generation console. The console was released on September 14, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia. It is a powerful system, with a compact design, four controller ports, a controller with an ergonomic design, small but large-capacity discs, a large game library, connectivity with the Game Boy Advance and a form of online play. In 2006, it was succeeded by Wii, which also features ports for most GameCube hardware as well as compatibility for its software.

A special version of the GameCube was released by Panasonic with the ability to play DVDs and audio CDs as well as GameCube games. It was named the Panasonic Q and was only available in Japan.

Contents

Controller

GameCube disc

The controller for the GameCube is designed with four main buttons (A, B, X, Y, a control stick, the start button, an L and R button, Z button, a D-Pad, and a C Stick). Many versions of the controller have been released including a miniature version, one with a built-in fan, and a wireless version.

Memory

The GameCube does not have built in memory. Instead, it uses memory cards that hold the saved data in a "block" format. The user can move, copy, and delete data from the memory cards. These memory cards are needed to play GameCube games on Wii. The memory cards come with different memory capacities and are mainly made by third-party companies.